Who has way too much food sitting around the house right today? Raise your hand and go “Me, me, me!”

It’s in the form of colorfully wrapped zucchini bread, warehouse club party packs of crackers, and the sugar cookies Santa left behind because there was no chocolate in them. What happens next to these foods depends on where you put them.

Within a week the Associated Press will be releasing a gonzo article telling you what you can do with all of these extras. It’s partly based on some studies an amazing buddy of mine from France (Pierre Chandon) and I did. We looked at what happens when people bring tons and tons of food home from places like Sam’s Club, Costco, and BJs.

We discovered the way you pack leftover foods and bulk-bought foods in your cupboard or fridge will trick you the next time you open it. What you see first is what you’re most likely to eat. That first food is the one you compare the others to. You see it, you skim the rest of the fridge or cupboard, and then you take it.

Unfortunately, we can’t change your instinct to grab the first food you see.

Fortunately, what we can do is to make sure this first food isn’t a plate of fudge or thumbprint cookies. You can make sure the food that’s front and center on our front shelf lines up with our New Years resolution.

Now’s the time of the year to load up that center shelf with the fruit that’s slowly withering away in the crisper, or with 10 for $10 yogurts.

As for the cookie gift bags, if you wrap them in foil and put them in the back of the fridge, they’ll still be waiting for you next year at this time.